Motorcyle and Biker Ride Reports and General Info

Many of you may have noticed a significant decrease in the articles I have been writing on the Biker Law Blog lately. This is due to many factors; work, motorcycle riding season, and other circumstances beyond my control. The reality is that my work has kind of really taken over my life.

I have had a brand new Harley Davidson King Tour Pak for my Electra Glide, with all of the goodies for it sitting in my garage for about a month, and I have not had a chance to install it. That is how busy I have been.

I am hoping to do the cross country motorcycle run that my fiancé and I have been planning in August; we will see. My doctor has actually ordered me to take a vacation. That is how busy I have been. I actually have a prescription for a vacation sitting here in front of me as I write this article. I was also planning a motorcycle run up to Yosemite, through the Tioga Pass, and then up to Reno and Lake Tahoe in the next few weeks, but Lake Tahoe just burned to a crisp. This particular run is probably one of the best runs in the world and is my personal favorite of all time. I may still do the run we will see.

Have any of you actually sat down and actually tried to write an article? It takes time to write a quality article that people want to read! Unlike many other Blogs out there, I actually write my own articles, rather than just post links to other peoples articles. I must admit that there are posts in the Biker Law Blog that reference other articles or links; however, 99.9% of the articles on the Biker Law Blog are written by me, a humble California Biker Lawyer. I do what I do because I want to make a contribution to the motorcycle community throughout the world in whatever way I can. The Biker Law Blog is about quality and not quantity.

The Biker Law Blog gets thousands of hits a week from all over the world. I hereby promise my readers that I will make an effort to write more good material subject to my busy calendar and free time.

This spring and summer has truly started out in a very bad way for bikers and motorcyclist throughout the United States and the World. The carnage that is being reported to me by my new motorcycle accident clients and by my sources is the worst I have ever seen as a Biker and as a Lawyer. The number of deaths that are happening on the roads due to motorcycle accidents right now is unprecedented and truly makes me sick to my stomach. I keep asking myself; what can I do? My answer is to write articles on motorcycle safety; I am a moderator for the National Agenda on Motorcycle Safety, which is sponsored by the Motorcycle Safety Foundation, and I may give some continuing legal education classes to other lawyers this summer. I am going to try to make it to Sturgis this summer with my club, and to meet with other biker lawyers while I am there; we will see.

For me it is a double edged sword; I ride motorcycles just like my clients, and I am subject to the same dangers as my clients because I ride motorcycles. I write articles on motorcycle safety because it just makes me sick seeing the aftermath of motorcycle accidents. On the law end, I kick ass for my clients, but in the end, I would rather not see them messed up the way they are. That is my double edged sword. That is why I have not been able to write as many articles lately, I am busy helping my clients.

Even though I am super busy, I did manage to design a new legal directory called LawNosh which you can check out by clicking here. The directory allows lawyers, attorneys, and law firms from every state in the nation, and all over the world to submit free links to their websites, Blogs, and to Courts in every State so that consumers and people in need of a lawyer can find one with no hassles, and consumers can read some of the great legal Blogs that are out there. The directory is very new so that are not many links yet, but I am sure my fellow lawyers will populate it soon!

So here I am a humble California Biker Lawyer writing a rambling article so that my readers will understand what is going on with me right now.

I do have a major article planned that will also be released to the media via a press release regarding insurance companies defrauding consumers. I will hopefully publish the article in the next couple of days. Just thinking about the mega insurance companies defrauding consumers and not paying valid claims really pisses me off.

With that being said, I will end this rambling article with the following biker creed; “Keep Both Wheels on The Road!”

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007

I have been reading about the rumors that Honda Motor Corporation is going to be buying Harley Davidson for the past week. I have been reading the expected responses from die hard loyal Harley Davidson motorcycle riders that it will never happen, it is just a rumor, etc.

Then my friend from Blawg Review sent me a link to an article in Biker News Online which contains links to articles on subject from the Associated Press, Forbes, and Reuters. I concur with Biker News Online that publications such as these do not just throw rumors out unless there is some validity to the story.

The big question is; can Honda buy Harley Davidson? Yes they can.

What most people do not realize about publicly owned companies such as Harley Davidson is that they are owned by stockholders and not just by one or two people.

I am not going to write a dissertation on what a Public Corporation is as opposed to a privately held company. However, I will tell you that once a Corporation goes public, which means shares of their stock are purchased and sold on the public stock exchange, anything is possible. Most publicly held corporations have what is called a majority stockholder who owns the largest percentage of shares in a corporation.

Corporate takeovers can be friendly or they can be hostile.

Harley Davidson was taken over years ago by AMF Corporation. Later, the management and employees of Harley Davidson managed to arrange to buy a majority share of Harley Davidson stock from AMF, which made it an independent Public company again, with the majority of shares being owned by the company.

From what I have read, such a takeover of Harley Davidson by Honda would result in a Honda that controls 60 percent of the motorcycle market. This issue brings forth another issue; even if Honda decided to purchase Harley Davidson through a friendly or hostile takeover, would Federal Anti-Trust Regulators allow such a deal to happen? Could be, you never know.

My personal take on a potential Honda takeover of Harley Davidson is that I hope it does not happen. Harley Davidson is an American Icon and a national treasure that I think should be preserved as an American Company. Harley Davidson is uniquely American just like apple pie and the 4th of July.

Furthermore, the vast amount of corporate mergers that have taken place in the past 3 decades, have very much taken away true competition in every market from consumer electronics to automobiles.

I do not know if Harley Davidson has the will, means or muscle to keep a takeover from happening. They are supposed to do what is in the stockholders interest. That is how Public Corporations operate. In the end it will be decided by the shareholders of Harley Davidson themselves. Will their greed allow Honda to take over Harley Davidson? In the free market, a lust for profit drives everything.

I hope Harley Davidson remains an American Company.

Everyone is welcome to comment on this story.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007

My friend from Blawg Review sent me an excellent link to a site called SmartFlix that rents “How To” videos for Motorcycles and many other subjects. At first glance I was very happy to see that I could rent videos on topics that I have never seen before!

I checked out the link and have myself set up an account and paid to rent a couple of videos; "Fix My Hog – Touring", and another title.

Click Here for how to videos for Motorcycles.

Click here to go to their main website.

I am impressed with the how to motorcycle video list that they now offer and hope that it will get bigger as time goes by. The titles that I ordered could save me hundreds or even thousands of dollars in the future by teaching me how to do my own maintenance on my Electra Glide.

I will know more once I actually get the videos I rented. I just wanted to turn you onto SmartFlix. Hopefully they will work out as well as they promise.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007

A friend and client of mine, Reverend Chuck and I talked during the week about taking a little motorcycle ride on Sunday, June 3, 2007. Rev. Chuck is always busy doing weddings and such so we had some time constraints on the ride (which I cannot stand, but what can you do) whereby he had to do a wedding later in the day, and would have to end the ride at 2:30pm. We decided to meet at 9:00am and do as much riding as possible until he had to leave at 2:30pm.

Reverend Chuck had a bad motorcycle accident over a year ago, and still has pain and residual effects from his accident, but he is a trooper, and still loves to ride.

I decided to take Rev. Chuck on a ride through the Angeles Crest Forest up to Newcomb’s Ranch and beyond to a secret spot of mine up in the forest. Newcomb’s Ranch is a famous biker spot up in the hills and has a deep history. I always go by Newcomb’s on any ride through the Angeles National Forest.

Those who have ridden with me through the years know that my secret spot up in the hills past Newcomb’s Ranch is a must stop location for good luck. I always ask everyone who comes with me to do the wood ceremony at this spot for good luck, and because I have been doing it for well over a decade myself. No, I will not explain the wood ceremony unless you do this ride with me!

This particular ride is one of my favorites because you literally ride up to 8 thousand feet above sea level in about 24 miles, and the entire ride is basically nothing but hairpin twisties. On the weekends all types of motorcycle riders own these roads. When you ride past Newcomb’s Ranch, there is almost no one on the road. This ride consists of a two lane road, with some turnouts and intermittent passing lanes.

Groups and people that I have lead on this ride are shocked to learn that there is an Alpine Forest just a few miles from downtown Los Angeles, with ski resorts and the works. Everyone always tells me that they did not know!

This ride is usually snowed in during the winter; however, it clears up around March of each year. In March you can still see snow melting in the hills on this ride.

My fiancé (old lady) and I love doing this ride together because there are an infinite number of places to pull into and get frisky up in the hills. Matter of fact, about 5 years ago, I almost lost my motorcycle when I pulled into a hidden place that looked ok, but happened to lead to a shear cliff with a deep incline leading to it. Once I pulled in it was too late. Had my old lady not been there to help me pull the motorcycle out, the bike would have gone over! Suffices is to say, we found another spot.

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